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Thanksgiving Dinner Conversation: Turkey

Before Halloween, Stacy Conradt filled us up with trivia treats about our favorite sweets. She's back again for another food series leading up to Thanksgiving.

1) The tryptophan in turkey isn't really what makes you sleepy after Thanksgiving dinner "“ you would have to consume truly massive amounts of the meat to achieve such an effect. The likely culprit is probably the amount of food and carbohydrates consumed at most Thanksgiving dinners.

2) In Britain, big turkey dinners are often accompanied by Brussels sprouts and/or parsnips as side dishes.

3) It's tradition every Thanksgiving for the President of the United States to save a turkey from slaughter by "pardoning" it to live out its life at a petting zoo. Historians debate the origin of this tradition. Some say it can be traced back to Harry Truman (he's seen in this 1947 photo posing with a turkey, but his papers have no reference of actually issuing a pardon), while others cite a story about Abe Lincoln pardoning his son's turkey, Jack.

4) The turducken is a turkey stuffed with a duck, which is stuffed with a chicken. John Madden is a big fan.

Other variations include the gurducken, goose stuffed with turkey stuffed with duck stuffed with chicken; the osturducken, ostrich stuffed with turkey stuffed with duck stuffed with chicken; and the bustergophechiduckneaealcockidgeoverwingailusharkolanbler, a bustard stuffed with a turkey stuffed with a goose stuffed with a pheasant stuffed with a chicken stuffed with a duck stuffed with a guinea fowl stuffed with a teal stuffed with a woodcock stuffed with a partridge stugged with a plover stuffed with a lapwing stuffed with a quail stuffed with a thrush stuffed with a lark stuffed with a Ortolan Bunting stuffed with a Garden Warbler stuffed with a single olive. Got that?? [Image source]

5) James "Kibo" Parry created the tofurkurkeyfurky in 2005 "“ by sandwiching a real turkey between layers of tofurkey (tofu turkey).

We'll end this series with two questions. Do any of you have any special Thanksgiving traditions? Do you serve any non-traditional food?

Stacy Conradt is a staff writer who's been contributing to mental_floss since 2008. As an avid board game lover, she is especially fond of her work on Split Decision and Mixed Nuts. In her spare time (ha) she likes to run badly and visit roadside attractions that make most people cringe. She never met an Abe Lincoln tribute she didn't love. If you have one to suggest, let her know at twitter.com/stacy_writes.

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